arXiv subjects

G. Kovacs

Publications and source records attributed to G. Kovacs.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

HAT-P-42b and HAT-P-43b. Two Inflated Transiting Hot Jupiters from the HATNet Survey

First identified from the HATNet wide-field photometric survey, these candidate transiting planets were then followed-up with a variety of photometric observations. Determining the planetary nature of the objects and characterizing the parameters of the systems were mainly done with the SOPHIE spectrograph at the 1.93m telescope at OHP and the TRES spectrograph at the 1.5m telescope at FLWO. HAT-P-42b and HAT-P-43b are typical hot Jupiters on circular orbits around early-G/late-F main sequence host stars, with periods of 4.641876\pm0.000032 and 3.332688\pm0.000016 days, masses of 0.975\pm0.126 and 0.660\pm0.083 Mjup, and radii of 1.277\pm0.149 and 1.283+0.057-0.034 Rjup, respectively. These discoveries increase the sample of planets with measured mean densities, which is needed to constrain theories of planetary interiors and atmospheres. Moreover, their hosts are relatively bright (V < 13.5) facilitating further follow-up studies.

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arXiv2012

Four ultra-short period eclipsing M-dwarf binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey

We report on the discovery of four ultra-short period (P<0.18 days) eclipsing M-dwarf binaries in the WFCAM Transit Survey. Their orbital periods are significantly shorter than of any other known main-sequence binary system, and are all significantly below the sharp period cut-off at P~0.22 days as seen in binaries of earlier type stars. The shortest-period binary consists of two M4 type stars in a P=0.112 day orbit. The binaries are discovered as part of an extensive search for short-period eclipsing systems in over 260,000 stellar lightcurves, including over 10,000 M-dwarfs down to J=18 mag, yielding 25 binaries with P<0.23 days. In a popular paradigm, the evolution of short period binaries of cool main-sequence stars is driven by loss of angular momentum through magnetised winds. In this scheme, the observed P~0.22 day period cut-off is explained as being due to timescales that are too long for lower-mass binaries to decay into tighter orbits. Our discovery of low-mass binaries with significantly shorter orbits implies that either these timescales have been overestimated for M-dwarfs, e.g. due to a higher effective magnetic activity, or that the mechanism for forming these tight M-dwarf binaries is different from that of earlier type main-sequence stars.

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arXiv2011

The discovery of the T8.5 dwarf UGPS J0521+3640

We have carried out a search for late-type T dwarfs in the UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey 6th Data Release. The search yielded two persuasive candidates, both of which have been confirmed as T dwarfs. The brightest, UGPS J0521+3640 has been assigned the spectral type T8.5 and appears to lie at a distance of 7-9 pc. The fainter of the two, UGPS J0652+0324, is classified as a T5.5 dwarf, and lies at an estimated distance of 28-37 pc. Warm-Spitzer observations in IRAC channels 1 and 2, taken as part of the GLIMPSE360 Legacy Survey, are available for UGPS J0521+3640 and we used these data with the near-infrared spectroscopy to estimate its properties. We find best fitting solar metallicity BT-Settl models for Teff = 600K and 650K and log g = 4.5 and 5.0. These parameters suggest a mass of between 14 and 32 MJup for an age between 1 and 5 Gyr. The proximity of this very cool T dwarf, and its location in the Galactic plane makes it an ideal candidate for high resolution adaptive optics imaging to search for cool companions.

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arXiv2011

HAT-P-28b and HAT-P-29b: Two Sub-Jupiter Mass Transiting Planets

We present the discovery of two transiting exoplanets. HAT-P-28b orbits a V=13.03 G3 dwarf star with a period P = 3.2572 d and has a mass of 0.63 +- 0.04 MJ and a radius of 1.21 + 0.11 -0.08 RJ yielding a mean density of 0.44 +- 0.09 g cm-3. HAT-P-29b orbits a V=11.90 F8 dwarf star with a period P = 5.7232 d and has a mass of 0.78 +0.08 -0.04 MJ and a radius of 1.11 +0.14 -0.08 RJ yielding a mean density of 0.71 +- 0.18 g cm-3. We discuss the properties of these planets in the context of other known transiting planets.

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arXiv2010

HAT-P-16b: A 4 Mj Planet Transiting A Bright Star On An Eccentric Orbit

We report the discovery of HAT-P-16b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the V = 10.8 mag F8 dwarf GSC 2792-01700, with a period P = 2.775960 +- 0.000003 d, transit epoch Tc = 2455027.59293 +- 0.00031 (BJD), and transit duration 0.1276 +- 0.0013 d. The host star has a mass of 1.22 +- 0.04 Msun, radius of 1.24 +- 0.05 Rsun, effective temperature 6158 +-80 K, and metallicity [Fe/H] = +0.17 +- 0.08. The planetary companion has a mass of 4.193 +- 0.094 MJ, and radius of 1.289 +- 0.066 RJ yielding a mean density of 2.42 +- 0.35 g/cm3. Comparing these observed characteristics with recent theoretical models, we find that HAT-P-16b is consistent with a 1 Gyr H/He-dominated gas giant planet. HAT-P-16b resides in a sparsely populated region of the mass{radius diagram and has a non-zero eccentricity of e = 0.036 with a significance of 10 sigma.

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arXiv2009

Application of the Trend Filtering Algorithm on the MACHO Database

Due to the strong effect of systematics/trends in variable star observations, we employ the Trend Filtering Algorithm (TFA) on a subset of the MACHO database and search for variable stars. TFA has been applied successfully in planetary transit searches, where weak, short-lasting periodic dimmings are sought in the presence of noise and various systematics (due to, e.g., imperfect flat fielding, crowding, etc). These latter effects introduce colored noise in the photometric time series that can lead to a complete miss of the signal. By using a large number of available photometric time series of a given field, TFA utilizes the fact that the same types of systematics appear in several/many time series of the same field. As a result, we fit each target time series by a (least-square-sense) optimum linear combination of templates and frequency-analyze the residuals. Once a signal is found, we reconstruct the signal by employing the full model, including the signal, systematics and noise. We apply TFA on the brightest ~5300 objects from subsets of each of the MACHO Large Magellanic Cloud fields #1 and #79. We find that the Fourier frequency analysis performed on the original data detect some 60% of the objects as trend-dominated. This figure decreases essentially to zero after using TFA. Altogether, We detect 387 variables in the two fields, 183 of which would have remained undetected without using TFA. Where possible, we give preliminary classification of the variables found.

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arXiv2008

Application of the Trend Filtering Algorithm in the search for multiperiodic signals

During the past few years the Trend Filtering Algorithm (TFA) has become an important utility in filtering out time-dependent systematic effects in photometric databases for extrasolar planetary transit search. Here we present the extension of the method to multiperiodic signals and show the high efficiency of the signal detection over the direct frequency analysis on the original database derived by today's standard methods (e.g., aperture photometry). We also consider the (iterative) signal reconstruction that involves the proper extraction of the systematics. The method is demonstrated on the database of fields observed by the HATNet project. A preliminary variability statistics suggests incidence rates between 4 and 10% with many (sub)mmag amplitude variables.

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arXiv2008

Pulsational and evolutionary analysis of the double-mode RR Lyrae star BS Com

We derive the basic physical parameters of the field double-mode RR Lyrae star BS Com from its observed periods and the requirement of consistency between the pulsational and evolutionary constraints. By using the current solar-scaled horizontal branch evolutionary models of Pietrinferni et al. (2004) and our linear non-adiabatic purely radiative pulsational models, we get M/M(Sun) = 0.698 +/- 0.004, log(L/L(Sun)) = 1.712 +/- 0.005, T(eff) = 6840 +/- 14 K, [Fe/H] = -1.67 +/- 0.01, where the errors are standard deviations assuming uniform age distribution along the full range of uncertainty in age. The last two parameters are in a good agreement with the ones derived from the observed BVIc colours and the updated ATLAS9 stellar atmosphere models. We get T(eff) = 6842 +/- 10 K, [Fe/H] = -1.58 +/- 0.11, where the errors are purely statistical ones. It is remarkable that the derived parameters are nearly independent of stellar age at early evolutionary stages. Later stages, corresponding to the evolution toward the asymptotic giant branch are most probably excluded because the required high temperatures are less likely to satisfy the constraints posed by the colours. We also show that our conclusions are only weakly sensitive to nonlinear period shifts predicted by current hydrodynamical models.

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arXiv2007

HAT-P-4b: A metal-rich low-density transiting hot Jupiter

We describe the discovery of HAT-P-4b, a low-density extrasolar planet transiting BD+36 2593, a V = 11.2 mag slightly evolved metal-rich late F star. The planet's orbital period is 3.056536+/-0.000057 d with a mid-transit epoch of 2,454,245.8154 +/- 0.0003 (HJD). Based on high-precision photometric and spectroscopic data, and by using transit light curve modeling, spectrum analysis and evolutionary models, we derive the following planet parameters: Mp= 0.68 +/- 0.04 MJ, Rp= 1.27 +/- 0.05 RJ, rho = 0.41 +/- 0.06 g cm-3 and a = 0.0446 +/- 0.0012 AU. Because of its relatively large radius, together with its assumed high metallicity of that of its parent star, this planet adds to the theoretical challenges to explain inflated extrasolar planets.

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arXiv2007

HAT-P-3b: A heavy-element rich planet transiting a K dwarf star

We report the discovery of a Jupiter-size planet transiting a relatively bright (V = 11.56) and metal-rich early K dwarf star with a period of about 2.9 days. On the basis of follow-up photometry and spectroscopy we determine the mass and radius of the planet, HAT-P-3b, to be M_p = 0.599 +/- 0.026 M_Jup and R_p = 0.890 +/- 0.046 R_Jup. The relatively small size of the object for its mass implies the presence of about 75 Earth masses worth of heavy elements (1/3 of the total mass) based on current theories of irradiated extrasolar giant planets, similar to the mass of the core inferred for the transiting planet HD 149026b. The bulk density of HAT-P-3b is found to be rho_p = 1.06 +/- 0.17 g/cm^3, and the planet orbits the star at a distance of 0.03894 AU. Ephemerides for the transit centers are T_c = 2,454,218.7594 +/- 0.0029 + N (2.899703 +/- 0.000054) (HJD).

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arXiv2007

HD147506b: A Super-Massive Planet in an Eccentric Orbit Transiting a Bright Star

We report the discovery of a massive (Mp = 9.04+/-0.50 MJup) planet transiting the bright (V = 8.7) F8 star HD 147506, with an orbital period of 5.63341+/-0.00013 days and an eccentricity of e = 0.520+/-0.010. From the transit light curve we determine that the radius of the planet is Rp = 0.982^{+0.038}_{0.105}RJup. HD 147506b (also coined HAT-P-2b) has a mass about 9 times the average mass of previously-known transiting exoplanets, and a density of rho = 11.9 g cm-3, greater than that of rocky planets like the Earth. Its mass and radius are marginally consistent with theories of structure of massive giant planets composed of pure H and He, and may require a large (~100 Earth mass) core to account for. The high eccentricity causes a 9-fold variation of insolation of the planet between peri- and apastron. Using follow-up photometry, we find that the center of transit is Tmid = 2,454,212.8559 +/- 0.0007 (HJD), and the transit duration is 0.177 +/-0.002 d.

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arXiv2007

The Mass and Radius of the Unseen M-Dwarf Companion in the Single-Lined Eclipsing Binary HAT-TR-205-013

We derive masses and radii for both components in the single-lined eclipsing binary HAT-TR-205-013, which consists of a F7V primary and a late M-dwarf secondary. The system's period is short, $P=2.230736 \pm 0.000010$ days, with an orbit indistinguishable from circular, $e=0.012 \pm 0.021$. We demonstrate generally that the surface gravity of the secondary star in a single-lined binary undergoing total eclipses can be derived from characteristics of the light curve and spectroscopic orbit. This constrains the secondary to a unique line in the mass-radius diagram with $M/R^2$ = constant. For HAT-TR-205-013, we assume the orbit has been tidally circularized, and that the primary's rotation has been synchronized and aligned with the orbital axis. Our observed line broadening, $V_{\rm rot} \sin i_{\rm rot} = 28.9 \pm 1.0$ \kms, gives a primary radius of $R_{\rm A} = 1.28 \pm 0.04$ \rsun. Our light curve analysis leads to the radius of the secondary, $R_{\rm B} = 0.167 \pm 0.006$ \rsun, and the semimajor axis of the orbit, $a = 7.54 \pm 0.30 \rsun = 0.0351 \pm 0.0014$ AU. Our single-lined spectroscopic orbit and the semimajor axis then yield the individual masses, $M_{\rm B} = 0.124 \pm 0.010$ \msun and $M_{\rm A} = 1.04 \pm 0.13$ \msun. Our result for HAT-TR-205-013 B lies above the theoretical mass-radius models from the Lyon group, consistent with results from double-lined eclipsing binaries. The method we describe offers the opportunity to study the very low end of the stellar mass-radius relation.

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arXiv2006

Signal Search and Reconstruction by a Trend Filtering Algorithm

We present additional tests of our algorithm aimed at filtering out systematics due to data reduction and instrumental imperfections in time series obtained by ensemble photometry. Signal detection efficiency is demonstrated, and a method of decreasing the false alarm probability is presented. Including the recently discovered transiting extrasolar planet HAT-P-1, we show various examples on the signal reconstruction capability of the method.

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arXiv2006

Computation of the Fourier parameters of RR Lyrae stars by template fitting

Due to the importance of accurate Fourier parameters, we devise a method that is more appropriate for deriving these parameters on low-quality data than the traditional Fourier fitting. Based on the accurate light curves of 248 fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars, we test the power of a full-fetched implementation of the template method in the computation of the Fourier decomposition. The applicability of the method is demonstrated also on datasets of filter passbands different from that of the template set. We examine in more detail the question of the estimation of Fourier- based iron abundance [Fe/H] and average brightness. We get, for example, for light curves sampled randomly in 30 data points with sigma=0.03 mag observational noise that optimized direct Fourier fits yield sigma_[Fe/H]=0.33, whereas the template fits result in sigma_[Fe/H]=0.18. Tests made on the RR Lyrae database of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) support the applicability of the method on real photometric time series. These tests also show that the dominant part of error in estimating the average brightness comes from other sources, most probably from crowding effects, even for under-sampled light curves.

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arXiv2006

HAT-P-1b: A Large-Radius, Low-Density Exoplanet Transiting one Member of a Stellar Binary

Using small automated telescopes in Arizona and Hawaii, the HATNet project has detected an object transiting one member of the double star system ADS 16402 AB. This system is a pair of G0 main-sequence stars with age about 3 Gyr at a distance of ~139 pc and projected separation of ~1550 AU. The transit signal has a period of 4.46529 days and depth of 0.015 mag. From follow-up photometry and spectroscopy, we find that the object is a "hot Jupiter" planet with mass about 0.53 M_jup and radius ~1.36 R_jup traveling in an orbit with semimajor axis 0.055 AU and inclination about 85.9 deg, thus transiting the star at impact parameter 0.74 of the stellar radius. Based on a data set spanning three years, ephemerides for the transit center are: T_C = 2453984.397 + N_tr * 4.46529. The planet, designated HAT-P-1b, appears to be at least as large in radius, and smaller in mean density, than any previously-known planet.

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arXiv2005

The WHAT Project

We describe WHAT, a small-aperture short focal length automated telescope with an 8.2 deg X 8.2 deg field of view, located at the Wise Observatory. The system is aimed at searching for transiting extrasolar planets and variable stars. Preliminary results of 3892 exposures of a single field are presented, where the telescope achieved already a precision of a few mmag for the brightest objects. Additional information can be found at http://wise-obs.tau.ac.il/~what .

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arXiv2004

A Trend Filtering Algorithm for wide field variability surveys

We show that various systematics related to certain instrumental effects and data reduction anomalies in wide field variability surveys can be efficiently corrected by a Trend Filtering Algorithm (TFA) applied to the photometric time series produced by standard data pipelines. Statistical tests, performed on the database of the HATNet project, show that by the application of this filtering method the cumulative detection probability of periodic transits increases by up to 0.4 for variables brighter than 11 mag with a trend of increasing efficiency toward brighter magnitudes. We also show that TFA can be used for the reconstruction of periodic signals by iteratively filtering out systematic distortions.

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arXiv2004

Wide-field millimagnitude photometry with HAT: A Tool for Extra-solar Planet Detection

We discuss the system requirements for obtaining millimagnitude photometric precision over a wide field using small aperture short focal length telescope systems, such as are being developed by a number of research groups to search for transiting extra-solar planets. We describe the Hungarian-made Automated Telescope (HAT) system which attempts to meet these requirements. The attainable precision of HAT has been significantly improved by a technique in which the telescope is made to execute small pointing steps during each exposure so as to broaden the effective point spread function of the system to a value more compatible with the pixel size of our CCD detector. Experiments during a preliminary survey (Spring 2003) of two star fields with the HAT-5 instrument allowed us to optimize the HAT photometric precision using this method of PSF broadening; in this way have been able to achieve a precision as good as 2 millimagnitudes on brighter stars. We briefly describe development of a network of HAT telescopes (HATnet) spaced in longitude.

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